Angelfish Breeding Cycle

Good news and bad news to report regarding my pair of angelfish lovers.

First, the bad news: it appears that none of the angelfish babies that hatched this past week have survived in the community tank. There are a number of hiding places, however, so the possibility does exist that I will find a few who have remained well-hidden from me as well as predators.

The good news: once a pair of angels successfully lays eggs and sees them hatch, they are hooked. About every two weeks that they are without babies to care for, they will lay more eggs. This could go on for months -or even years- at a time.

So today I discovered that they had laid more eggs on the same intake.

I had a dilemma.

If I allowed them to repeat the process of laying eggs in the community tank, I ran the risk that none of the babies would ever survive. Once they became free swimmers, it was just too much of a challenge to keep corydoras, plecos and tetras at bay.

I realized that because I'd removed the other angelfish to a separate community tank when John and Christy McFish decided to have a family, there were no predators in that tank that would bother my neon tetras, which had been housed in a separate, smaller tank. (Grown angelfish will eat neons.)

That is, there would be no predators if John and Christy McFish weren't there.

So today I moved all of the neon tetras, corydoras and two small plecos from their smaller tank (20 gallons) to the larger community tank (70 gallons) where they joined larger tetras and more corydoras. (I love corydoras; they seem like busy little Merry Maids.)


And I moved John and Christy McFish to the smaller tank, which is now officially the Honeymoon Suite.

The eggs on the intake were left behind, so they will be food for the fish that remained in the tank. However, once John and Christy realize they are all by themselves without any predators to harm their babies in the Honeymoon Suite, they'll lay eggs again. And this time, the babies have a much better chance of survival.

Stay tuned, and I'll post updates when they begin working on a family again!

p.m.terrell is the award-winning author of more than 20 books, including the Black Swamp Mysteries Series, which features CIA operatives who use an angelfish breeding facility as a front to cover their covert activities. Read Vicki's Key for details on raising angelfish from a breeder's perspective! And visit www.pmterrell.com for more infomation on all p.m.terrell's books!

Visit p.m.terrell's YouTube channel for videos on Angelfish Keeping and Breeding: https://www.youtube.com/user/terrellpm 

Angelfish Babies!

This has been an exciting week for me because for the first time in two years, I have a breeding pair of angelfish.

If you've been following my posts for awhile, you may remember that Lindsay Buckingfish and Stevie Fishnick had so many successful clutches that I lost count. But after Stevie passed away, Lindsay was uninterested in anyone else. Angelfish usually mate for life.

I have a black angel and a silver angel in a community tank that includes a marble angel, a pleco, about two dozen tetras and about a dozen corydoras. When they decided to lay eggs on an intake, I didn't give it much thought because with so many others in the tank, there would be little chance that they would survive.

However, John and Christie McFish (of Fleetfish Mac fame) have surprised me. Their eggs hatched within a few days and I now have several dozen babies ready to swim.

Once the eggs hatch, the mother or father catch the babies in their mouths and spit them out someplace where they can get plenty of food. In this case, it's on the intake itself where algae has formed. The angelfish stay glued to this by their little heads. In this stage, they are called wigglers.

As they grow, they become strong enough to eventually pop off and swim on their own. This is a dangerous time because they could get sucked into the intake itself, or they could be eaten by another fish. They are barely the size of a hat pin, and they are translucent. They are also shaped like bullets and not the shape we identify with angelfish.

During this phase, the parents will need to keep them corralled. Normally, I would have had them in a tank by themselves with a piece of foam over the intake to prevent anyone from being sucked into it, and there would be no predators in the tank. However, because they are in a community tank, I inserted a small screen between them and the others; it only reaches partway but it prevents a direct line-of-sight. I also removed the third angelfish to another community tank. The pleco was found dead the morning after they laid their eggs; I suspect during the night, the pleco attempted to eat the eggs and the parents viciously defended them.

The tetras and corys are remaining at the far end of the tank and both angelfish check frequently to make sure they stay on their side!

The next phase is called the Invisible Phase. Many of the babies will seem to disappear; they are actually living on the bottom of the tank, in the gravel, where predators are less likely to discover them. I do have an infant tank at the ready, filled with water from the original tank, and I will attempt to capture at least a few. Then I'll see what the survival rate is between those that are in the dedicated infant tank versus those that are kept with the parents.

And what do babies eat when they are barely the size of a hatpin? I will feed them First Bites, which is manufactured specifically for baby fish, and finely crumbled brine shrimp. As they grow over the course of the next eight weeks, they will eventually be weaned onto finely crumbled fish flakes, and then onto regular fish flakes.

Between the age of eight and twelve weeks (depending on their size) they will go to the local pet shop for sale. Although some breeders will sell the babies when they are the size of a dime, I wait until mine are the size of a quarter. By then, their coloring has taken effect and they have the beautiful lines of the angelfish.

To read more about my angelfish breeding, check out other blog posts at www.vickisangelfish.blogspot.com.

p.m.terrell is the author of more than 18 books in several genres. Her award-winning Black Swamp Mysteries features CIA operatives who use fronts as angelfish breeders to conceal their real identities. Visit www.pmterrell.com for more information and to read sample chapters.

Small Tetra Tank

Most of this blog has been focusing on my angelfish, but I also have a neon tetra tank. Neon tetras, glowlight tetras, and penguin tetras can not be placed in the same tank as full grown angelfish, because they would be considered food.

So they have their own tank, along with several corydoras and a miniature pleco.

This was supposed to be a fireplace but the contractor never finished it. Rather than to look at a gaping hole, I turned it into an aquarium. This is only 20 gallons, but the small tetras in this tank must think it is spacious.

Redecorating a Community Tank

I liked the castles in Lindsay's and Stevie's Honeymoon Suite so much that I bought one for one of my community tanks.

Above, you can see two rare blue angels, a platinum marble angel named Emmie Lou who is the daughter of Lindsay and Stevie, and a blue marble angelfish. Emmie Lou (at the far left) is the only female. This tank is 55 gallons, and also contains corydoras and tetras.

Below is a video of their new digs:

Angels in the Community Tank

I have two community tanks with four angelfish in each one.

In this one, I have three males and one female. Normally, it's best to have things the other way around, as males can become quite territorial. This tank, however, is 70 gallons so there are places each male can go where they can not be seen by the others.

The oldest in this tank is John McFish. He is a silver angel around four years old. His mate, Christy McFish, was a smoky leopard who passed away some time ago.

The two koi angelfish are from the same brood. However, although one is male and one is female, they have never been interested in one another romantically - which might be a good thing, since they are brother and sister.

The female koi is interested in the blue marble angel, which is about the same age - around two years old. He is the alpha male in the tank, which might be why she is so interested in him. It is important for the male to be able to protect the eggs and fry from predators.

All of the angelfish get along just fine with the other fish in their tank.

Update on the Honeymoon Suite

Lindsay Buckingfish and Stevie Fishnick seem to be enjoying the new decor in their honeymoon suite.

I have noticed them side by side staring at parts of the tank - the castles, the plant leaves, and even the glass. This is common when they are considering laying eggs. I would love to know how they communicate; I can imagine them asking each other if they think the conditions are right in that particular spot for the eggs to flourish.

Here is Lindsay; he is about ten inches tall and about two years old now. He's fathered several hundred eggs!

This is a small tank; only 20 gallons. Though books recommend five gallons for each angelfish, I allow ten gallons for each one. Only Lindsay and Stevie live in this one, so there are no predators and their eggs and fry would be safe.

Redecorating the Honeymoon Suite

It's been quite some time since Lindsay and Stevie mated. I tried twice to return them to the community tank. Stevie was accepted instantly, as female angels are, but Lindsay was bullied and might have been pecked to death had I not intervened.

So I decided that even if they do not breed again, the two needed to remain in the Honeymoon Suite. I didn't want to have Lindsay there all by himself, so Stevie and Lindsay are together again and have all the privacy they need.

However, when they were breeding, it was important to keep the tank spartan. This helps me to clean the tank without disturbing the baby angelfish. Now that they're no longer breeding, I decided to redecorate.

I am writing two books that center around an Irish castle. The first of these two will be released in 2015, and the second either in 2015 or 2016. Irish castles tend not to have spirals on their towers, but I fell in love with these two castles. It has created a fairytale atmosphere for the two lovers. They seem to be enjoying their new surroundings.

Cuddle Time

My two Jack Russells, Eddie (with the blue collar) and Lucy (with the pink collar). 

Notice there's no room for me?

Lindsay Buckingfish and Stevie Fishnick

I haven't posted a lot lately about new baby angelfish because there hasn't been any in quite awhile. The couple I depend on most for laying eggs every few weeks has been on a hiatus for months. The last time they laid eggs, Lindsay thought the fry wasn't to his liking and decided to eat them. Or maybe they were too much to his liking. Stevie caught him in the act and tore into him. I removed them both to a separate tank and hand-raised their young on my own, eventually raising 17 to take to the local pet shop.

I don't know if Stevie was still angry with Lindsay and refused to have sex with him. Or maybe she was too traumatized by the sight of Her Babies' Daddy eating them. I tried changing their food to pure brine shrimp, specially designed for breeding. No luck.

This past weekend, I decided that it was too much work to clean so many tanks every week so I drained the infant tank. I moved Lindsay and Stevie to a community tank but that turned out to be short-lived. Stevie was accepted instantly, as most females are. Lindsay, however, was perceived as a threat by the other males and promptly driven into a corner. As I observed this, I realized Lindsay's eye had become injured so out he came and back to his original tank.

I added medicine to his tank that day and followed with Bionox the following day. Late yesterday, I moved Stevie, shown in this video below, back to the honeymoon suite. I decided since angelfish mate for life, they were better off together. Lindsay looked lonely in the tank by himself. And Stevie wouldn't leave the corner of the community tank, where she stared across the room at Lindsay.

This morning, Lindsay's eye is almost completely healed. I will continue with the medicine for a week, and then reassess his condition.

So the lovers are back together.

Mr. Blue Gets Two Female Friends

Last week I mentioned that my blue marble angelfish had lost his long-time mate. He was pretty blue, hanging out in a corner and staring at his own reflection in the glass.

So I moved Emmie Lou, the platinum marble angelfish who was born to Lindsay Buckingfish and Stevie Fishnick right here in my own home, into his tank. (Shown below)

Because one should never introduce just one angelfish to a different tank, I also moved Alfreda AKA Alfie, a koi angelfish.

If I introduce just one angelfish to a group of angels, the newcomer will often be the target of territorial issues and bullying. By introducing two at once, especially in a tank with only three others present, it changes the dynamics and there is less likelihood of bullying.

Both Emmie Lou and Alfie are females, which is also acceptable in a tank with three males. Had I introduced another male, I would have had definite problems.

So far, Emmie Lou and Alfie have taken up with Mr. Blue, which is exactly what I wanted to happen.

The largest angels in this tank are Walter and Jack, two huge (12 inch tall) blue angels. They are named for Grumpy Old Men Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon, because they are always bickering. But they're brothers and I suspect if I moved one, they'd miss each other. Besides, nobody else wants to put up with them.

Playing in the Snow

Seems like we've gone from winter to spring and back to winter!

Here is a video of the dogs, Eddie (a Jack Russell), Lucy (a Jack Russell/ hound mix) and Simone (a collie) playing in the snow from a couple of weeks ago. All the snow is melted and now the storm is just a memory.



Feeding Baby Angelfish

When angelfish first begin to swim, it's time to start feeding!

The first food I feed my angels are live brine shrimp and First Bites. Live brine shrimp will cause the fish to grow very quickly and become more robust. It's very easy to hatch brine shrimp; one of the easiest methods is with a brine shrimp hatchery. But you can purchase the eggs at any pet shop and by adding aquarium salt to the water and shrimp eggs, you can grow them in almost anything, from old milk jugs to glass jars.

First Bites is an alternative if you don't want to grow brine shrimp yourself. This is prepared especially for newly hatched fish, so it is miniscule. When a tiny spoonful is put into the water (I use an 1/8 of a teaspoon) it floats through the water like live "bait". Angelfish are born with the instinct to go after this tiny food in the water, as well as any algae forming on plant leaves or glass.

Now that the angelfish are four weeks old, I have switched to dried brine shrimp instead of live. By crumbling it into the water, it's larger than freshly hatched shrimp and a bit more filling.



Within the next couple of weeks, I will be adding dried fish flakes to their feeding. By the time the angelfish are between eight and ten weeks old, they will have been weaned completely off the brine shrimp and First Bites and will be eating a diet consisting solely of dried fish flakes. This allows them to settle in much more easily with a community tank.

Angelfish Babies Learning Their World

I'm really happy to report that the angelfish babies are continuing to thrive. Just a week or two ago, they remained near the gravel, as close to the bottom of the tank as they could get. They traveled in a school and whenever I came near the tank, they moved to the far back.

As they've grown, however, and especially once I removed the plants they were hiding behind, they have become more confident with their surroundings. They've begun to swim from the bottom of the tank to the top. And they've fanned out, no longer feeling the need to remain in a school.

In the wild or in a community tank, plants or decorations with very small openings are necessary to keep the baby angelfish from being eaten by predators - even other (adult) angelfish. Remaining in a school can be necessary for survival as well.

But in an infant tank like I have set up, there are no predators. I don't even have corydoras or other bottom-feeding or algae-eating fish, because they can find newborn fry very tasty. So there are no predators and the angelfish are learning they are perfectly safe.



I've been asked about the sponge on the intake filter. I bought the sponge at my local pet shop and cut it so it slips onto the intake. This prevents very small and weak angelfish from being sucked into the filter. It also provides a place where brine shrimp can become lodged, which the babies will pick off without having to worry about getting sucked in. The water can still circulate through the filter, providing both filtering and water movement that is essential to keeping the water oxygenated.

Angelfish Begin to Form Their Shape

The angelfish are just over two weeks old, and they have begun to form their distinctive angelfish shape.



The more angels you have in one tank, the shorter and squatter they become. The more space each one has to grow, the more likely they are to have very tall fins.

It is difficult at this point to count the fry, but I believe there are close to three dozen in this 20-gallon tank, which should give them plenty of space to grow over the next few weeks. When they have reached a body size of a quarter, they will go to the local pet shop. Some breeders sell them when their bodies are the size of a dime. I believe this is entirely too small, as the water changes from the breeder to the pet shop and then to the buyer's tank often results in high fatalities.

I changed the water the day before this video was taken. Water can become very dirty with babies, because of the brine shrimp that is fed to them - it creates cloudier water than fish flakes, which they won't be able to eat for several more weeks. During the water change, I removed the plants. This confuses them for a day or two, but it makes it more likely for them to get used to me, so they won't hide from people in the pet shop - or in their new home. They'll come to associate people with food.

Loving the Snow

My collie, Simone, is loving the snow. This week, a more severe storm moved in (Pax) which brought a reported five inches of snow to Robeson County on Tuesday, and an estimated .75 inch of ice on Wednesday.

Though it shut down the town, Simone loved the cold so much that she spent part of her day sitting in the snow.

In case you're wondering if she was left out there for long, note the doggie door on the side of the house. :) The dogs have three doggie doors so they can come and go as much as they'd like. I have discovered, however, that they will run around and play in the snow for a few minutes, then come inside for Mommy to dry them off, they'll warm up, and a few minutes later, they're back outside in it!



Babies Thriving

Since I moved the parents to a different tank, the babies have been exploring their tank more thoroughly. There are no predators so they are perfectly safe swimming about. There is no need for them to hide among the plants, as their parents were keeping them.



You can see the difference in size. The smallest are most likely female, and the largest are most likely the alpha males - the ones most likely to get to the food first, and who will be more assertive as they age. When looking for a pair, it's often best to select one of the largest (most likely, a male) with one of the smaller ones (most likely, a female). Getting two of the largest often means you've selected two males, which can result in territorial issues.



Parents Fighting

Last evening I was sitting across the room from the Infant Tank when I noticed Stevie Fishnick and Lindsay Buckingfish fighting. I had never witnessed this before; they are usually quite compatible. As I approached the tank, they locked lips and tugged at one another.

There is only reason for this to have happened. One of the parents (most likely, the male) decided to begin culling the babies. In the wild, the parents will often select the weakest to kill (or eat!) which helps the strongest to survive, as there are fewer competitors for food or resources.

However, this can cause a problem if the only parent does not agree with the culling decision.

So I believe that Stevie was continuing to protect her young - but the tables had turned so she was now protecting them from their own father.

I removed them both immediately to the empty tank directly above the Infant Tank. I had planned on moving them anyway when the babies got a little larger, but truthfully, the babies can do well on their own as soon as they become free-swimming. Because there are no predators in the tank and the filter intake has a baby-proof sponge on it, there's no reason for the parents to keep them hidden among the plants and leaves.



Tomorrow: how the babies are doing on their own.

Last Week's Snow

It doesn't usually snow in coastal North Carolina, but last week we received about four inches. This was Lucy Loo's first time to experience snow.

Lucy is the one who is running from one dog to the other, trying to get them to play with her. Even our 87-pound collie looks small with all that snow surrounding her. Her thick fur coat really came in handy. Eddie is a Jack Russell and Lucy is a Jack Russell/hound mix.



Angelfish Babies Growing and Thriving

It's been about two weeks since the latest batch of angelfish babies hatched. Angelfish make terrific parents. In the video below, you'll see the parents in a 20-gallon tank with their young. The young still have torpedo-shaped bodies but within the next week or so, they will begin to get their distinctive angelfish shape. The more crowded the babies are, the shorter and squatter they become, which is why you'll want to look for angels with very tall fins. They should be twice as tall as they are long.





Even at this young stage, you'll see a large discrepancy in the size of the fry. The largest tend to be male and they also tend to become the alphas - those who are more aggressive or assertive when feeding and when mating. The smallest tend to be females, who will not get nearly as large as their male siblings.

Each batch by these parents tend to be half black marble and half white marble. They will go to the pet shop for sale when they are between 8-10 weeks old. At that time, they are completely weaned off brine shrimp and are eating fish flakes, and their bodies are around the size of a quarter. Anything smaller than a quarter-sized body often results in high fatalities, as each move to new water stresses the youngest fry.

Calling for Power Outages

I live in coastal North Carolina, and I particularly love living here during the winter months. While everyone else has been shoveling snow non-stop for weeks, we'd have some rain but no sleet, no ice and no snow. That is customary for this region.

So imagine my surprise to find that a major snowstorm was heading straight for my area and it could dump 8-12 inches of snow on us. You might think that's nothing but consider that snow here is more likely to be sleet, freezing rain, ice and wet snow - all of which can bring down trees and power lines, and result in power outages. In fact, according to the weathermen, we could receive massive power outages lasting some time.

My biggest worry is not for myself or my dogs, but for the angelfish. It is easy for me to keep my dogs in a smaller area with blankets and things that can warm them, and I can put on extra layers of clothes. But what do fish do during a power outage?

There are three issues that can result in fish deaths during a power outage:

(1) dramatic change in their water temperature - fish are cold-blooded creatures, which means their bodies are the temperature of their environment;

(2) lack of oxygen - the air wands and filters in a tank help keep the water oxygenated, and of course without oxygen the fish can die;

(3) waste - with the filters off, waste can build up quickly - from uneaten food to bacteria naturally found in the water to the excrements of the fish themselves.

Last year, I wrote a series of articles on what to do in the event of a power outage. I've pulled these out and I am preparing the tanks in the event of a power outage. I have blankets available to cover the tanks to keep the water from cooling off too quickly. I have the battery powered aerators available and will check the batteries today to ensure they are ready to go. And I will not feed the fish during the power outage; they can actually go several days without food, and this will help keep the waste down. Plus, by keeping blankets over the tanks, it plunges them into darkness, which will keep them less active (except the bottom feeders, and we want them to be scrounging for food, as that keeps the waste and decay down).

In case you missed it, here are the articles on what to do during a power failure:

Part I:

http://vickisangelfish.blogspot.com/2013/02/what-to-do-in-power-outage-part-1.html

Part II:

http://vickisangelfish.blogspot.com/2013/02/what-to-do-in-power-outage-part-2.html

Part III:

http://vickisangelfish.blogspot.com/2013/02/what-to-do-in-power-outage-part-3.html